English Class with a guest from America.

One of things I most wanted to do in Russia was to go to a classroom. I had never seen such adorable children. They had never an American before. We stared at each other. The boy in the center of the picture stood up from his chair. He politely asked me why I was studying Russian. Of course it is for moments like this. Another moment happened today. Elmira gave birth to a little girl today and after a few years she too will go to school here.

The priest In Bakali.

During Communist times the dome was torn down and the church served as the local movie theatre. I noticed that the priest had an abacus inside. Cool. "A Russian calculator", he joked.

The Mosque In Bakali

The mosque was going through renovations. I checked out the pile of sand, the mortar mixer, the ladder and the scaffolding. There were a few old people praying inside, but more than the church.

Geese

For Becky this picture seemed to sum up what Bakali was all about.

Best Friends- SP & CO (Smith Porter & Co., Hancock, West Virginia)

I found this pair of bricks in Newport along the bank of the Ohio between Hooter's and the I-471 bridge while walking with Cicero. They seem to fit together, the only ones I've found with this name. The last post of 2010, dedicated to my best friend, also from West Virginia.

Best Friends

On the left is my partner, Hobo with his best friend, Busby Berkeley. They were both strays over in O'Bryonville in Cincinnati ten years when they came into our family.

Best Friends

Olga Massey puts on lipstick under the watchful eye of Irina Hawkins. It was Irina's 49th birthday. They have been friends and hooligans since they met in grade school in Moscow.

Usually I have great trouble learning new Russian words, but a couple years ago when the beautiful Ira taught me how to say lipstick- 'gybnaya pomada' : well, that one stuck with me.